Is There Not a Cause?: We Are Here—Because We Are Not There!

By Jay R. Leach

THE GREAT COMMISSION IS NOT OPTIONAL!

Research shows that the unchurched, saved or unsaved are not staying away from church because they think it is boring or not relevant. Their lack of confidence isnt directed against God and the Bible; but it is with the church and its leaders. People dont want to experience church. They want to experience Gods presence. Today you cant get away with just talking about what the Bible says. The church today must see its mission as one of reflecting Gods holiness, revealing Gods glory, and witnessing to the reality of Jesus Christ. The early church did so by demonstrating sacrificial love, both toward those within the church and those on the outside. Likewise, the risen Christ came to transform us into a loving, compassionate people, but not through a political agenda. His strategy gives the individual a new birth, a new spirit, a new nature, a resurrection life, and the death of self and selfishness. There is a cause! Believers are here, Jesus said, to do greater things than these (see John 14:12). This is the calling of the church.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Sep 29, 2017
• ISBN: 9781490784601

Jay R. Leach

Jay R. Leach is the president of the Bread of Life Ministries International, which he and his wife, Magdalene, founded in 1998. He is senior pastor of the Bread of Life Christian Resource Center and Church and president of the Bread of Life Bible Institute. He has served several Baptist churches in Eastern North Carolina over the past thirty years as pastor. The Leaches reside in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and are the parents of five adult children.

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BOOKS BY JAY R. LEACH

How Should We Then Live

Behold the Man

The Blood Runs Through It

Drawn Away

Give Me Jesus

A Lamp unto My Feet

Grace that Saves

The Narrow Way

Radical Restoration in the Church

Manifestation of the True Children of God

According to Pattern

Battle Cry

Is there not a Cause?

DEDICATION

To our children

Jenel [David], Sonja [Andrew], Tonia [Darryl], Jay [Tonya], Jayson [Luetica]

"Give ear O my people, to my law

Incline your ear to the words of my mouth,

So that the generation to come would know them,

The children who would be born,

That they may arise and declare them to their children."

– Psalm 78:1, 6

PSALM I

A PSALM OF THE TWO WAYS

Blessed is the man that walketh not in

counsel of the ungodly, nor

standeth in the way of sinners,

nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD;

and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers

of water, that bringeth forth

his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall

not wither; and whatsoever he doeth

shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so: but are like

the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Therefore the ungodly shall not

stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the LORD knoweth the way of

the righteous:

but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

– Psalm I (KJV)

CONTENTS

Books By Jay R. Leach

Dedication

Psalm I

Introduction

SECTION I

THE POWER OF PURPOSE

Chapter 1     The Church On Purpose

Chapter 2     In Harmony With Reality

Chapter 3     Two Kingdoms

Chapter 4     The Divine Strategy

SECTION II

WE ARE HERE

Chapter 5     Getting A Handle On Reality

Chapter 6     The Church Within The Church

Chapter 7     Why Are We Here?

SECTION III

BECAUSE WE ARE NOT THERE

Chapter 8     Because We Are Not There

Chapter 9     A Countercultural Of Good

Chapter 10   Power From On High

Chapter 11   The Ministry Of The Holy Spirit

Section IV

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Chapter 12   The Exercise Of Spiritual Gifts

Chapter 13   God’s End Strategy

Chapter 14   How We Got Here

Chapter 15   There Is A Way Out!

SECTION V

GETTING IT RIGHT

Chapter 16   Approaching The King Of Glory!

Chapter 17   Ask God And Trust Him

Chapter 18   The Fruit Of God’s Divine Plan

Chapter 19   The Ministry Of Reconciliation

INTRODUCTION

This work began with an earthly crisis and ends with hope of eternal glory. My motive for writing this book is two-fold: First to help people struggling with the subtly upheavals and massive changes experienced in the culture and the local churches of this country over the past sixty or so years. Satan knows that he cannot defeat or destroy the church of the Living God; but he has been working furiously to distract as many people from God’s strategic redemptive plan as he possibly can. Many of the local churches have caved in to his bluffs and they are silently retreating inside the four walls of the church building at the insistence of two of his most formidable weapons spiritual illiteracy and biblical illiteracy.

Increasingly these churches are assimilating so much of the secular agenda that many of the members can be classified: practical secularists, atheists, consumerists, and acute narcissists; as a result of the churches’ subtle turn from the authority of the Holy Scriptures to the authority of the culture. At the same time a progressive omission of the Holy Spirit, His ministries and a growing rejection of a biblical worldview for a progressively secular view. The secular view is carefully produced and engineered by the now-openly secular media, self-experience, science, reason, and carefully crafted secular-based public educational systems, in which the theory of evolution is placed above creation truth. This deception is now ingrained beginning in nursery school through graduate school at every level. Rather than standing firm in the righteousness of God in Christ, and the revealed truths of God-centered Christianity. Since the 16th century [Reformation] a great percentage of the people sitting in the pews of local churches have favored a progressive pseudo-religious Christianity which requires neither the supernatural nor meaningful commitment to Christ and His Church.

True Christian service and living righteous lives must begin with right thinking.¹ The church is God’s idea; and just as it was with His instructions to Moses for the construction, dedication, and service of the tabernacle, all were according to God’s plan, pattern, and instructions.² He left absolutely nothing to man’s distorted imagination, because of his sin-generated depravity; nor did God ask him what he thought about His plan. His instructions demanded humility, faithfulness and obedience according to pattern [lest you die!].

Jesus Christ founded the Church, according to pattern, Upon this Rock I will build My Church (Matthew 16:18). He purchased it with His own blood (Acts 20:28), and intimately identifies Himself with it (Acts 9:4). The church is the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12, 27; Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:12; 520-30; Colossians 1:18, 24; 3:15), the dwelling place of His Holy Spirit and the chief instrument for glorifying God in the world (Ezekiel 36:22-38; Ephesians 3:10). He provided the Holy Spirit and Scripture guided plan and strategy for the church; which requires that each participating person have a new birth from above, and a personal intimate relationship with the Lord, Jesus Christ, our Savior.

In the tabernacle the legal sacrifice was killed and prepared by the priests according to pattern and placed on the brazen altar to be consumed by fire which originated in heaven. The living sacrifice of the New Covenant is in glorious contrast to the dead legal sacrifice of the Old Covenant. The death of the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world settled that (John 1:29). Today under grace [God’s unmerited favor], Christians are instructed in Romans 12:1-5 to:

• Present your body "a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service. Emphasis added throughout.

• Be not conformed to this world [don’t let the world mold you according to their ungodly values and worldview] which is designed to do away with God, Christ, the things of God and Christians [replacing creation and transformation].

• Be transformed by the renewing of your mind through the Holy Spirit and the knowledge of the truth [God’s Word].

• Don’t think of yourself more highly than you ought to think.

Christians who fail in life are those who have first failed at the altar. How? By refusing to fully surrender themselves to the leadership of Christ.

The motive for full surrender and dedication is love; the apostle Paul did not say, I command you but I beseech [urge] you, because of what God has already done for you. We do not serve the Lord in order to receive mercies, because we already have them. No, we serve Him because we love and appreciate Him. That is basic!

Authentic full surrender and dedication is the presenting of our body and our soul [comprised of our mind, will, and affections] to God day after day. It is a daily yielding of your body to Him, having the mind renewed by the Spirit and the Word of God, and surrendering the will [not my will Father, but your will], through faithfulness, reverence, prayer and obedience [individually and corporately].

Every Christian can be classified as either a conformer³ living for and like the world, or a transformer,⁴ daily becoming more Christlike throughout their lives as part of a Bible-believing Christian Church. In II Corinthians 3:18 we are told that we are transformed as we allow the Spirit to reveal Christ to us through the Word of God. Jesus Christ by His Holy Spirit dwells in every true believer; the church is the aggregate body to which Jesus has given His life.

If you touch Christians, you have touched Christ. Christians are a sacramental people. A sacrament is a means of grace; it is a mysterious symbol which bears the presence of Christ through which believers encounter Christ. In view of Ephesians 1:23, in some mysterious sense the church as the body of Christ fills or completes Christ. In other words, Jesus is the Head of the church – but a head without a body is no good. Let’s turn that around, the church is the container, and Jesus is the one who fills it with life.

My second motivation for writing is having celebrated my seventy-seventh birthday; I realize that many of the local churches in America are in real trouble with little or no cultural relevance, having shifted from God’s plan and strategy of Bible-centered authority and worship to that of an entertainment-centeredness, or an emotion-centeredness, or a social action-centeredness, or a prosperity-centeredness [investment giving]. I hear many young and older preachers these days saying that God is going to do a new thing, Why should He? Among His last Words of instruction to us was This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased …… Hear Him!

Recent Barna research has reported that pastors are remaining longer; that same research disclosed that there are more pastors 65 years of age and beyond in this country than pastors 40 years old and younger. Why is that? I believe it’s due the churches’ move from Bible-centeredness for a foundation to one or more of those we covered above.

I pray that senior ministers will take advantage of this opportunity and reconsider their recliner and retirement-travel options; and chose to mentor, help, inform, train and equip the next generation of preachers and other Christian workers with the faith once delivered to the saints – bringing them into the knowledge of the truth and a renewed practical appreciation for the power of the gospel of Christ. Expository preaching for example is almost as extinct as the fire and brimstone preaching of so-called yesteryear.

It is apparent from recent research concerning the millennia generation, that many young people between the ages of 18 and 34, have left the church and have little or no interest in Christianity. Yet, other statistics show that many of them are eagerly sharing their faith – they love to physically praise the Lord; and many are seeking a deeper spiritual walk with God. I favor the second report, don’t you? When we offer to be mentors or spiritual fathers and spiritual mothers to young people, many of them are eager to get on board. Christ’s kingdom mission for the church is still valid:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, unto to the end of the age (Matthew 28:19-20).

Every Christian individually and corporately must reconnect with the strategic redemptive plan given by God Himself. God’s ultimate goal for every Christian is Christlikeness, the first work for those attempting to carry out the Great Commission.

Neither you nor I can just wish for Christlikeness, conger it up, or buy it. It has to be developed in each of us over time through our new nature by the Holy Spirit. Spiritual gifts are given to the believer by the Holy Spirit, but the fruit of the Spirit is developed and grown; which requires time, faithfulness, loving care and protection. If we read the red in the Bible we will see and hear Jesus speak in His own words through the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit working through Paul listed those Christlike character qualities [fruit of the Spirit] in Galatians 5:22, 23 that make all true believers one in Christ – as we fully yield ourselves to the Word of God and the Holy Spirit yielding to Him as He develops this spiritual fruit within us.

Christian character is not mere moral, legal or political correctness no matter how together we might think we are, but we must possess and manifest the Christlike character through the Spirit of God within us. Don’t let the life of Christ end with you.

Later in chapter 19, I will deal heavily with the fact that the leadership must give the church back to the people. Every member has the responsibility of being one of Christ’s agents of reconciliation moving the church from adding believers to the kingdom to being multipliers of believers through teaching others who in turn will do the same (study carefully 2 Timothy 2:2).

God desires that each Christian mature in Christlikeness, and reproduces His or her life in others. The fruit comprise nine graces; without which we can not be effective disciples. Actually attempting to be a disciple in our own strength can cause irreparable damage and confusion simply because the flesh will keep popping up and contradict profession, by revealing our true character; therefore, let’s look to the Lord for these authentic biblical fruit graces:

The first three graces display the character of the believer’s inward state, which are not determined by circumstances, but in spite of circumstances:

• Love

• Joy

• Peace

The second three graces display the believer’s character expression toward others [people]:

• Longsuffering

• Gentleness

• Kindness

The third three graces display the believer’s character in expression toward God:

• Faith

• Meekness

• Temperance

Placed together they present a moral portrait of Christ, and may be taken as the apostle’s explanation in Galatians 2:20 Not I, but Christ, and additionally as a definition of fruit in John 15:1-4:

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit …… Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me.

Jesus says, Abide in Me. Abide means to remain or dwell in. The evidence of salvation is continuance in service to the Lord and His teaching. Then Jesus said to those Jews that believed in Him,

If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free (see John 8:31-32).

Pastors must lead all of the church in recommitting themselves to following Christ through obedience to the Spirit and the Scriptures as true mature disciples serving in their giftedness to the glory of God:

1. The first step in the progress is belief in Jesus Christ as the Messiah and Son of God.

2. Perseverance in obedience to the Holy Spirit and Scripture (see Galatians 5:22, 23; Matthew 28:19-20), and the Great Commission.

3. A genuinely saved and obedient disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ will seek and know divine truth and freedom from sin (v. 34).

Genuine disciples individually and corporately who faithfully hold fast, obey and practice Jesus’ teachings have both the Father and the Son. Pastors and other church leaders must heed what Jesus said and establish themselves and their local churches on the Enduring Truth, Jesus Christ. Ray Steadman wrote so beautifully ⁵ in his book, Body Life: The life of Jesus continues to be manifested among people; but no longer through an individual physical body, limited to one place on earth, but through a complex, corporate body called the church.

Jay R. Leach

Fayetteville, NC

SECTION I

THE POWER OF PURPOSE

CHAPTER ONE

THE CHURCH ON PURPOSE

But seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:33).

The principles and purpose of the church has remained the same since Christ founded it 2000 years ago, but the methodology for achieving that purpose has changed throughout the generations. A church is effective so long as it single-mindedly pursues the purpose God has ordained for it. That is, proclaiming the gospel audibly, and living Christ-like lives together in local congregations making the gospel visible (see John 13:34-35). However, methodology [the how-to] must change and adept to the relevancy of the times and environment without compromise.

THE CHURCH IS THE GOSPEL MADE VISIBLE!

While a very noticeable cloud of despair has settled over the non-Christian world, due to the failure of mankind’s idol-gods, a vacuum is left ready for the gospel of Christ to fill. It is a time of great opportunity for the Church of the Living God; whenever and wherever foundations are shaken doors open unexpectedly. Depending on who is talking; today is perhaps the greatest opportunity since its founding, for the church to shine not inside the four walls – but outside in the streets and marketplace where it was birthed.

The authority of Christ compels Christians individually and corporately to study the Bible’s teaching on the church. So many congregations act as if the Bible comprises only the four gospels and the Book of Revelation and therefore they reject the Old Testament, the Book of Acts and the General and Pauline Epistles as irrelevant Church History.

ITS TIME TO WAKE UP

The church in America has been compared to a rich sleeping giant with great and powerful potential. This conclusion has been reached in view of church history. However, the church around the world has proven to be resilient and tough throughout the centuries. Notice the stand made by the Coptic Christians in Egypt, and other parts of the Middle East. God is still the Pilot! Due to the present crisis of decline many Christian communities have produced through prayerful innovation, some new models, while remaining spiritual and doctrinally pure.

Remember, the church is to make Jesus visible to the world, and particularly individual Christians in their areas of influence to include family, community and the marketplace. How? The same way Jesus made God the Father visible by being full of grace and truth. Therefore the Church is called and empowered to make the ascended Christ visible in the world today by being absolutely full of grace and truth. The apostle Paul says,

"God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages now and forever He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of